Caught in a Blizzard
by stachys
Summary: It's been nearly a year since Nanami left the Kurama Mountain, leaving only faint memories behind. But when a curse falls on the thousand year old sakura, it's time for her to return and face not only danger, but a certain tengu as well. Nanami/Jirou
1. A Slight Breeze

**English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes I might have made. Also, this is my very first fanfiction, so please be kind when rating it. Have fun, I hope you will like it!**  
><strong>(I don't own Kamisama Hajimemashita. If I did, Suirou wouldn't have lost his wings.)<strong>

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><p>As the sun finally dove underneath the snow-capped mountains, its deep red rays illuminated the falling snowflakes for the last time, making it as though fiery embers danced through the now somber sky. The smell of strong incense lingered around the mountain, its thin smoke threads encircled the naked branches, bathing in the golden rays of the lanterns. A sudden blast of wind blew them off, bringing new chill in its wake, making the two men sitting under the cherry tree pull their coats tighter. It was such a cold winter they had that year, and it lasted for so long that everyone started wondering if they fell under an endless curse.<p>

Jirou drew in a deep breath as he took in the sight of their frozen world - even the Thousand-year Sakura refused to wake up, although they were already far into Spring. Its budless branches shook slightly from the small breeze, the light snowflakes that had been resting on them swiftly diffusing into the deep violet of the sky. Nothing seemed to be alive, just like his heart, freezing over and over every time he thought about— He took another suck from his smoking pipe, the smoke twirling around him. It's been cold, so cold since— _since Nanami left._ He cursed his brain for pointing out what he'd been refusing to admit since the girl returned to her home with that stupid fox. Not that he missed her or anything, of course, who would miss such a clumsy and disrespectful human, who couldn't even take care of herself and... Okay, he _might_ have missed Nanami a bit. And it wasn't just him, he noted, as he'd recently overheard the tengu kids talking about how bad it was without the girl. Of course, he had scolded them and told them off, but deep down, a small voice he refused to listen to, agreed with the children.

"You seem to be rather off today" said a deep voice from his right. He turned his head to see Suirou puffing out a smoke circle. "It seems as if your mind is in another world... Perhaps in that of a certain girl's?" he added with a sly smile.

"Shut up!" he lashed, but of course that omniscient bastard took his denial as a confession. He wondered if a grin as wide as Suirou's was still considered healthy. Probably not.

"Now now, my friend, there is no need for such an aggressive tone. It is bad for your nerves, you know~! And it is such a beautiful night we have here, you should rather enjoy it!"

"It is hard when someone's making stupid claims about my mind!" How the other remained immune to his deathliest glare, it would never cease to amaze him.

"Aww, Jirou-san, there is no need to take it to the heart! I was just joking~" he said in a fake tone that made Jirou want to punch him. But suddenly, Suirou got deadly serious, not even a hint of smile remained in the corners of his mouth. "Actually, we should really call her."

"Huh— what? Why?" Jirou sat there totally astonished as he tried to understand his friend's line of thought. Not that it ever made any sense.

"Remember that she was the one that purified this place the last time." Suirou leaned closer. "She was the one who brought back our _spring_" Jirou quickly pushed that annoying voice out of his mind that kept telling him that the last sentence contained a deeper meaning than the matter of the season.

"So what do you want me to do?" he asked angrily.

"I am just saying that _maybe_ she could do something to expel this never-ending winter. It's worth a try" he said nonchalantly as he took a sip of his sake. However Jirou felt that he was walking into a trap, he agreed.

"I will send someone for her tomorrow." he said, but then he thought better of it. "No, actually... I will be the one to bring her back."

Suirou coughed on the smoking pipe, the surprise being clearly written over his face at his partner's decision. But whatever questions he might have had, he swallowed them and turned to his friend with an all-knowing smile on his face.

"As you wish. But for now, we shall enjoy the night."

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><p>"Tomoe, hurry up! We're going to be late!" shouted a young black haired girl at her familiar. The latter exited the shrine with a scowl, clearly unamused by the fact that he, a 600-year-old demon had to attend to a human school. And the stupid snake waving at them as they left the shrine didn't make it any better. These times he wondered why he was enduring this humiliation. But then Nanami would turn to him, clearly to say something completely unimportant, with a smile on her face and he would comply. "Hee—y, are you here?" His train of thought was suddenly interrupted as said girl waved her hand in two inches from his face. But of course, a familiar's mind never wanders off, that's simply inadmissible.<p>

"Of course I am. Now come on, you are missing your first class" and with that, he grabbed her wrist (and his heart clearly _not_ thumped harder from the feeling of her warmth against his hand) and began to pull her towards the town.

It was the usual ritual they went through every day. He would wake at the sunrise, clean the shrine, bug Mizuki a bit, make breakfast, bug the incompetent snake some more, then spend the rest of the morning making sure Nanami was in a presentable state. Then they would go to school together, endure the boring classes and that insufferable tengu and return home to attend their chores around the shrine. But today, something was off. There was something unnerving in the air that he couldn't grasp, it wasn't evil but it was still there, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He wondered if all those dangerous encounters he faced in the past were making him paranoid, for Nanami seemed to be completely unaware of the strange aura surrounding the town. Tomoe decided not to worry her by telling her his observations as she was already rambling about some test she had to write.

As they neared to the school, the aura seemed to get stronger, and now it had a bit of an oppressive edge to it. Strange, indeed. The next corner, Kurama and that girl - maybe Ami was her name, but then again, he couldn't care less - joined them and soon it became obvious that the tengu didn't have anything to do with the odd phenomenon, because he seemed to be just as confused as he was. But at least, someone else could sense it too, he concluded after a quick exchange of glances (which, of course, didn't contain any worry at all). _As if the bloody idiot's opinion would count._ In five minutes they arrived. The school itself seemed normal, filled with cheerful students, some of them chatting, some of them trying to finish their homework before the teacher arrived. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. And that was what pissed him off. If only a ghost or a demon appeared, he could finish them quickly and then mind his own business, but this suspense was nerve-racking.

"Ahh, Nanami-chan!" waved a girl at them, he remembered her, she was one of Nanami's irritating classmates that always insisted on setting him up on a date with Kurama. She even had the nerve to— No. _I'd rather not remember that._

Meanwhile Nanami was already talking with the girl. "—Really? Did he say what he wanted?" Tomoe's ears perked up at this, while he pretended to observe a... uh... Orange? Sure, it can be interesting, it seemed to be a very thought provoking fruit, with all the—

"I didn't ask— I didn't really... dare to" At this, the girl seemed to be stumbling for the appropriate words. "He was really scary! I didn't know you had such scary friends, Nanami-chan!"

"But I don't have any—" taking advantage of Nanami's confusion, the girl already pulled her out of the classroom, muttering something about 'not wanting to be eaten'.

Tomoe was already up and ready to rush after them, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning back, his gaze met with burning black ones.

"There is no need to go after them" Kurama said with an all-knowing glance. "I think I already know who he is. And what he wants..." he added in an uncaring tone, but the fox didn't miss the tenseness in his posture.

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><p>Outside in the schoolyard, Nanami stood dumbfounded. She wondered if the milk she drank last night was expired as she eyed with the man standing in front of her. With his wings fully spread, managing to draw all the attention to him. Or perhaps, the fact that he was at least 7' tall and wore his traditional robes helped some, too. If she was lucky, perhaps she could pass him as her cosplay-crazy cousin. <em>Not that anyone would buy it<em>, she thought as he eyed with the mighty fourth chief of the tengu realm who was standing right at the gates of her school.

"Well, uh, hello Jirou! How are you? Long time no see, eh? " She mentally face-palmed herself for her stupidity. Gods, she wondered if a stronger land god would hear her prayer and make the earth swallow her. "Umm— I mean, there must be something you came for, haha! You don't seem to be the type to go visit his friends and... Well, uh..." she felt she was blushing with embarrassment, and the other was just standing there, giving her that _funny_ look that was not helping at all!

"I came for you."

"Haha, that's great, I was just— Wait, WHAT!" Nanami wondered if she should run for her life, as he seemed to be angrier than she'd ever seen him before. Or she could call for Tomoe. _Where is he, anyways?._ Sensing that she wasn't going to get a response, she tried to explain. "I mean, I know that I promised to visit you someday, but you see I kind of have school today and we're having a test next class and I am failing at math and I should look for Tomoe he has probably got into a fight with Kurama and look at the clouds we have a great weather today and—"

At that, she noted two things. One, apparently Jirou didn't appreciate her ramblings, nor the nice weather. Two, he has grabbed her by the waist and now they were high in the air, flying towards gods-know-where (oh wait, she was a god herself, but oh well).

_What the hell have I just got myself into!_

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><p><strong>Poor little Nanami! Actually, I plan to make her suffer some more, during later chapters, but I'm not here to give away spoilers... I hoped you liked this chapter, I know it's a bit short, the next one will be much longer, I promise!<strong>


	2. A Cold Blast

**The finals are over! *yay* This means I'll be updating more frequently from now on. That is, if there's anyone still interested after such a long absence. Also, I've got some very kind reviews from Lee Monika, Sylmarien, icyvfrost, Orange21 and mangaanime. Thanks guys, it means a lot to me!**

**(Also, I still don't own the manga. If I did, Tomoe would walk around half naked. All. The. Time.)**

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Nanami rarely felt scared. Being abducted, blackmailed and abused both physically and mentally throughout the time she had spent as a land god, she could now face even the strongest youkai without feeling the smallest trace of fear. But now it was not the case and since she was being held by the tengu who could be rightfully nominated for the 'Most Fearsome Creature in the World' Prize and would probably win it with flying scores, she decided it was justified to be frightened. Just the smallest bit. Oh and did she mention that at the moment they were flying _twelve stories high_? Not that she was afraid of heights or anything... Well, after taking a look down at the town below them she quickly changed her mind and clung onto her kidnapper's shoulders with all her might.

She felt the strong muscles tense beneath her fingers and for a brief moment she wondered if she would be dropped or punished, but quickly calmed down when she realized the other was just adjusting his grip on her. She let out a relieved sigh. As much as she didn't like being kidnapped, she still preferred life over death.

Their new position suddenly ticked a memory and she felt the images their night of leaving the Kurama Mountain flash before her eyes. Things weren't like this back then. She remembered Jirou being considerate and almost... gentle. When he took her up to the top of the sakura tree, careful not to drop her andhow he held her just like this... Nanami felt heat flooding her cheeks and she quickly shook her head, then quickly thought of ways to erase the scene from her head. Talking about something had always helped her so far, so...

"Ne, Jirou!" She immediately felt the pair of sharp eyes being directed at her. Maybe it was about time she started using the proper suffixes. Please note that the stress was on the _maybe_ part. At least she knew she had his full attention. "Umm, I mean, could you please... let go of me?" As she watched one perfectly curved eyebrow raise in disbelief, she felt the heat of embarrassment creep up her cheeks. "Not that you are holding me wrong or anything! What I mean is that, uhh, you've just kind of_ kidnapped _me, you know and... Well..." _Great Nanami, now you are rambling_, she reprimanded herself as she felt her face redden even more. And Jirou, well, damn him! He staring at her with that creepy glint in his eyes wasn't helping at all!

"You stupid woman. If I let go of you now, there is no way you would survive. I always knew you had suicide tendencies" Ouch, she thought as she felt a tender spot of her pride being hit. She really didn't need to be reminded how he saved her life from the Raijiuyuu. "—but I hoped that you would be more mature after a year."

"Hey, it wasn't like that! I was just trying to be nice, even if you were the wan that stole me rudely from my friends!" Okay, maybe that was too harsh, maybe she was a bit glad that she didn't have to write that history test she didn't have time to study for, maybe it was alright to escape from the everyday problems of her life... Maybe. But that still didn't mean he had the right to kidnap her!

She watched with a pang of guilt as his eyes first widened then narrowed to slits as he glared angrily at her. "I had a good reason." He said finally, but made no efforts to explain his motives.

"Then you could have just asked me, you know that I'd always help!" Nanami exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air in frustration which resulted in her almost falling from the tight grip she was currently held in. "It's not like I wouldn't have come with you..." she trailed off when she saw something alien flash in Jirou's eyes. Was that... regret? She was about to ask the tengu about his strange behavior when a sudden blast of cold air made her halt in her actions. As she looked around them she noticed they were slowly descending until finally, her feet touched the soft, snow covered ground. Wait, what? She didn't have time to ponder as another wave of chill reached her, making her shiver. Everything was grim. Everything was cold.

The tengu world was _frozen_.

"Ah, Nanami-chan?" she heard a deep voice behind her. She confusedly let go of Jirou, suddenly not remembering when she grabbed him. She quickly spun around to fing Suirou, always graceful and ever so mighty, walking towards them on the narrow path that led to Kurama Mountain. "I hope your journey was safe" he added, all the while looking at Jirou. Nanami felt frustration sparkling inside her - that man will never change! Hence that, she still couldn't suppress the big smile that, upon seeing the tengu, spread on her face as she run up to him and pulled him into a tight hug, watching his blush redden to a deep hue of scarlet that even Kurama's hair would envy.

"It's good to see you again, Suirou" she told the man who was mumbling something about over-expressive humans and them lacking manners.

"As happy as this reunion is, I am afraid I did not bring you here for a picnic" she heard Jirou's grumpy voice behind her. Now she remembered why she was mad in the first place! Jirou just grabbed her in front of the whole campus and without her consent—

But seeing the grim look on both tengu's faces her anger was quickly forgotten, replaced by worry. Although she feared the answer she would get, she couldn't help herself and had to ask: "What happened here?"

Suirou disentangled himself from the warm embrace and gestured around himself.

"The Thousand Year Old Sakura is refusing to bloom. Whether it is a curse or the scheme of some demon or another entity, we are not sure. But what we do know is" his expression darkened and he took a long look at Jirou. "That our world is _dying_, Nanami-chan."

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..

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To say that Tomoe was simply angry would be the underestimation of the century. No, he was _furious_ and with and with still raging temper he simply walked up to Kurama and punched the damn tengu in the face, refusing to admit that for once the other wasn't at fault. Still, the bastard deserved it.

"What the hell, stupid fox!" came the pained yell accompanied by the high pitched screams of the nearby female students who apparently didn't seem to appreciate their model being hit. As if he cared. Right now his interest was tuned on avoiding the fast kick that came from the other. He quickly ducked and, his eyes flashing golden for a brief second, with incredible speed he grabbed onto the tengu's ankle, holding the leg in mid-air, effectively stopping his opponent. "What was that for?" Kurama demanded again and the youkai had to admit that it was about time he gave him some answers.

"Nanami was kidnapped! And by that evil brother of yours!" he gritted. This was clearly not good for their relationship, or hate-bond as Ami always called it, but this time there was no one to intervene with a stupid joke or to bring up some dumb topic to distract them from killing each other. Hell, he already missed Nanami. He wondered if she was alright...

As he was lost in his thoughts he almost missed the dumbstruck expression on the other's face. Now that was a sight he won't forget anytime soon, he later chuckled to himself.

"Jirou here? That's impossible, he knows very well that he cannot leave the mountain now that he's become the fourth chief." Kurama stated calmly, but then he stilled as if something had struck him. "Unless... Unless there is..." he didn't finish the last part, his eyes becoming wide with shock. Tomoe only felt the faint breeze of fast movement but before he could realize what was happening a hand grabbed at his collar and was already pulling him down the corridor. Right under their stunned classmates' noses. He really couldn't blame them for wearing such a dumb expression, first there was a huge man kidnapping Nanami by _flying away _with her in his arms, then he and the red haired tengu started fighting, shouted strange curses at each other, then simply just left the classroom_. If we are lucky, they are going to thing we were just practicing for a play. If we aren't and they won't, then we are fucked. Thoroughly._ As his train of thought came to an end, he noticed that Kurama was fuming about something in the meantime. His ears perking up, he tried to listen in.

"—and you had to go and make a show in front of the entire class! I'm a role model for them, you stupid fox! Not that you would understand what that means, since you obviously lacked one... And I'm a star, too! Kami, what will happen to my beautiful career now? And—" Deciding that the monologue held nothing of importance he quickly tuned the other out. He knew that as much as Kurama was pretending to be deeply disturbed by the incident in the classroom, the reason of his unsettled state was the land god's disappearance and it was just his way of handling it. _Well, _he pouted as he was being dragged across the campus,_ it's time to get Nanami back. Even if that means I will have to work together with that stupid tengu._ He shot a sharp glare towards the other, his gaze meeting with an equally determined one. And so their unspoken, mutual agreement was formed.

But as they were leaving the school yard, a figure stepped in between the pillars of the gate. A petite form of a female, and as they came closer and her identity was revealed Tomoe couldn't help the surprised expression showing on his face. _What is she doing here?_ He looked at Kurama for answers but he saw that the other was just as confused as he himself was.

"Please" the girl started. "You are going to take Nanami-chan back, aren't you?" her voice was shaking and weak but nonetheless held great determination. "For all the months I've been helplessly watching the poor Nanami-chan go through all kinds of trouble to save others, but now... Now I want to be the one to help her! Please... _please, take me with you!"_

_._

_.._

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**That's it, I'm ending the chapter here! It's almost midnight and I'm far too tired to re-read it for mistakes so please point them out to me 'cause I'm sure there are plenty. And as always, reviews are appreciated.**


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